PH-Cambodia vow cooperation on security concerns

The Philippines and Cambodia vowed to strengthen cooperation on various security issues, including cybersecurity, humanitarian mine action, and disaster risk reduction, the Department of National Defense (DND) said Tuesday.

Cambodian Ambassador Phan Peuv paid a courtesy call on Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. at the Department of National Defense Headquarters in Quezon City on Monday.

During the meeting, the officials raised concerns about illegal mining and the use of explosives, as they pledged to work together against command-detonated mines and Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) affecting civilians and communities.

The two countries are among the ASEAN member-states that ratified the Convention of Cluster Munitions (CCM), which prohibits all use, transfer, production, and stockpiling of cluster munitions — a type of explosive weapon that scatters submunitions over an area.

Meanwhile, the Cambodian envoy invited Teodoro to Cambodia for the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production, and Transfer of Antipersonnel Mines and on Their Destruction also known as “Siem Reap-Angkor Summit on a Mine-Free World” on November 23 to 29, 2024.

Both countries likewise expressed anticipation for the 2024 Philippines-Cambodia Joint Defense Cooperation Committee Meeting to be held in Manila. — DVM, GMA Integrated News